Letters to the Editor - 12/4/2012

Editor: Washington is debating tax and spending policy, and people from Main Street to Wall Street are on edge.

Folks back home have no powerful lobbyists pleading their case. They rely mainly on their elected representatives. They fear being ignored or compromised in Washington's rush to judgment and deal-cutting.

Much is at stake. It impacts whether federal taxes rise, fall or stay the same, the nation's economy grows or stagnates, its infrastructure crumbles, financing for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and education assistance, and structuring policies on global trade and national security in a world vastly different than anything before.

Two years ago this month a bipartisan presidential commission made recommendations to reduce future national debt. Nothing was done on that aspect of governance. Now the president and Congress must step up and act on it and other critical matters.

If there was post-election voter clarity, it was that leaders should do what's vital now rather than assigning blame for past failures. It means finding bipartisan solutions. Winning everything and surrendering nothing won't do.

Voters gave scant guidance on priorities they are willing to pay for. Politicians must sort it out. Politics is supposed to be the art of the possible - not an act of the intractable or the irresponsible.

The country always has faced and met big challenges. President John F. Kennedy, in his last state of the union address in January 1963, said, "If we are to prevail in the long run, we must expand the long-run strength of our economy. We must move along the path to a higher rate of growth and full employment. . . we cannot afford to be timid or slow."

It sounds like wise counsel a half-century later.

HERB LINNEN

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Grieving GOP stuck in denial stage

Editor: The Republican Party has struggled to accept that its candidate failed to win the presidency.

There are five stages of grief, and in failing to grasp the significance of the election, John Boehner and the House Republicans, in the fight over how to avoid the "fiscal cliff" show that they are stuck in the first stage, denial. It is simpler for them to just pretend that the election never happened.

But, continuously this election was portrayed by both sides as presenting the electorate with a clear and critical choice between two drastically different visions of where the country should go.

Romney favored extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, finding ways to cut the deficit by cutting or shrinking social programs, and raising revenue only by eliminating tax deductions.

Obama was just as clear in his insistence that cutting the deficit could not be reduced without asking the wealthy to pay more by letting the Bush tax cuts expire only for the wealthiest Americans, returning their tax rates back to those of the Clinton era, and that cutting deductions would not suffice.

The choice was clear, and the voters chose Obama and his plan.

However, in the fight over what to do now, Boehner refuses to consider any increase in tax rates, and to raise revenue only by cutting out tax deductions - Romney's plan, which the voters rejected.

The GOP must be forced to accept reality, and realize that losing an election has consequences.

JAMES SHUTA

DICKSON CITY

Jealousy flows from top down

Editor: The GOP believes that all this talk about raising tax rates on those in the top bracket is the result of jealousy. In fact, jealousy started at the top.

Overwhelmingly, most middle-class people are satisfied with their lot in life, and are just trying to hang on to what they have. It's the wealthy that feel threatened by the gains made over the last century.

Anything approaching equality terrifies them, and they try to push back down the ladder those that try.

Wealth is only a relative thing. How wealthy one is compares directly to how poor the rest of us are.

I have nothing against anyone making themselves richer.

Just don't push down so hard on the other side of the scale in order to do it.

EARL BAILEY

SCRANTON

Give free bus ride to all students

Editor: Your article ("No easy way to school," Dec. 1) regarding the lack of transportation for students who attend the Scranton School District, upset me.

Public school transportation should not be dependent upon the donations of a private university.

Since COLTS is under the governance of Lackawanna County, why is there no mention of this issue being addressed to our county commissioners?

I firmly believe that COLTS should offer all students who reside in Lackawanna County a free bus pass.

In addition, COLTS should coordinate with our school districts to create bus routes and schedules that would support our students. No student should be required to walk more than a mile to school.

COLTS has already taken the initiative to develop schedules to support the students who attend our private colleges.

The county commissioners should take immediate action to implement this proposal. As a property owner (without any children), I recommend that the county make this a core function of our county bus system and provide the required funding.

When one considers the current and future county resources that have been committed to support national entertainment giants (New York Yankees, Mandalay Baseball Properties, Live Nation), our students who live in Lackawanna County should not be short-changed.

MICHAEL SEDONIC

DUNMORE

Must get there

Editor: I am a South Abington Twp. resident and I take for granted that my children can ride the bus to and from school each day.

I cannot wrap my head around the fact that Scranton School District students have no reliable means of transportation to attend school. Although I am not a Scranton resident, I agree with Superintendent Bill King's words, "We can't educate them if they're not there."

Education is the key to freedom and tolerance and in turn, peace. It is the greatest gift we give to our children.

MICHELE SEIBERT CROWLEY

SOUTH ABINGTON TWP.

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